BTW… 0004hrs

Posted by admin on Sep 21, 2008 in Misc, Trucking

The image isn’t perfect…but here’s a screenshot from my Microsoft Streets & Trips maps of my travels so far:

And this is the truck I’m driving (I’ll try to get a better pic some time…this was taken on that first load in the caves):

(and please…no jokes about Powder Blue Prius’!!)

Holy cow! What day is it and where am I?!?! 2334hrs

Posted by admin on Sep 20, 2008 in Where Am I?

The last couple of days have been a blur… let me see if I can figure out where I left off on here!

La Cross, WI… we delivered our load there and got another less than three miles away which is almost never heard of. That load went to Hiram, OH which delivered early this morning, so we ended up pulling an all-nighter to get there. I drove all night and was suprised to find myself pretty comfortable. We pulled into the 90 right on time at 0600 local, got unloaded in near record time and bedded down for a 10 hour rest at the end of the “industrial park” where the receiver was located.

Once we got up this afternoon we had a load in Groveport, OH heading to Milton, WV. We have to pick up the load tomorrow at 1100 and it doesn’t deliver until Monday at 0530, but it’s only a couple three hours away from the 01 so it’s no big deal. We decided to roll through a TA truck-stop this afternoon when getting up to get a directional light fixed. While in the shop. the mechanic noticed we had an air leak. Once those items were repaired he went to start the rig and noticed that the batteries were basically drained, so a full diagnostic of the electrical was in order. He found that three of the four 1000amp batteries were deader n’ a door-nail…so those were replaced. We also fix a mud flap on the tractor (a DOT inspection issue). Got some dinner, did a truck and trailer wash / wash out (yes we have to wash the INSIDE of the refer on a regular basis too!) and got bedded down here in Lodi, OH.

A side note for you… bet you didn’t know these refer trailers can heat UP to almost 100 degrees and cool down to -20! It’s kinda cool…after the wash-out, you turn up the heat above freezing on the control panel and it self dries using the refer unit!

So…that’s where we’re at right now… I’ve been doing a lot of driving (which is very good) and learning tons of stuff… I’m over half-way there on hours, have my CDL test scheduled… and just keep getting betterer and betterer every day! Gear grinding is down to a minimum and an exception now and not the norm! Yeah…I’m loving this!

(By the way for all of you reading this driving a cube… this is WAY better!)

Also… Charles says I need to be wary of the hat fairy truckers!

I know.. it’s been a few days without details – 1724hrs

Posted by admin on Sep 18, 2008 in Uncategorized

It’s been a crazy couple of days… up at 7, run til Midnight, pass out and do it all over again. I’ll post more details later, I’m now scheduled to take my CDL test Oct 1st!! AND… I’m already over half-way through my 100 hours of training!

In the mean-time.. here’s some pics I’ve snapped along the way, including where I’m at tonight (the last one).